July 26, 2011
LOS ANGELES -- Washington was picked to finish third in the North Division by the media on Tuesday in the first ever Pac-12 Conference preseason poll. Defending Pac-12 champion Oregon was tabbed as the school most likely to win the Pac-12 title. The Ducks were listed in the top spot in the North Division by 29 of the 42 voters participating in the poll, collecting 239 points. Twenty-eight of those pollsters tabbed the Ducks to come out on top in the inaugural Pac-12 Championship Game. Stanford was second among North Division schools garnering 13 first-place votes and 220 total points. USC was selected to win the South Division with 230 points, edging out Arizona State, which tallied 207 points. Due to NCAA sanctions, USC is on probation and ineligible to participate in the postseason. Therefore, the Trojans would not be able to represent the South Division in the Pac-12 Championship Game. Should USC capture the South Division crown, the team finishing second would be the South Division's representative in the Pac-12 Championship Game. Arizona State collected 13 first-place votes in the division race, with three of the pollsters predicting a Pac-12 Championship crown for the Sun Devils. The media poll has correctly selected the Conference Champion in 27 of 50 previous polls, including 10 of the last 11. Following are the results of the preseason media poll (points 6-5-4-3-2-1, first-place votes in parentheses): NORTH DIVISION: SOUTH DIVISION: PAC-12 TITLE GAME CHAMPION: Oregon (28 votes) |
